Future NYC Subway Cars to Include Wi-Fi, Security Cameras, Charging Stations

Future New York City subway cars may have an open design that lets riders walk from car to car, as well as electronic chargers, Wi-Fi and security cameras, the MTA said yesterday.

New renderings were revealed to the public that illustrated the open design of the R211 subway cars the MTA is designing on the lettered lines. Officials also gave an update on timelines for different subway cars and their amenities.

The MTA will test the door-free design in just 10 of the 940 new cars for which it hopes to award a more than $3 billion contract early next year. The other amenities would be built into all 940 cars.

The high-tech future R211 cars will replace the A and R lines’ current R46 cars, which hit the rails in the 1970s. However, there might be a shuffle that means the new cars go on lines other than the A and R, according to an MTA spokesman.

The MTA has been struggling with delays on production of new subway cars called the R179, which are being constructed upstate by Canadian company Bombardier. They are expected to be on the C, A, J, M and Z lines in the summer of 2018.

The C trains have the oldest cars in the transit system, dating back to 1964. A spokesman said the final determination on which lines the R179 cars will run on isn’t set in stone.

The MTA has purchased 300 of the R179s, which are 60 feet long and will make up about 36 new trains. Some of the trains will have eight cars, others will have 10.

The No. 7 train is also getting new train cars this year, which will use the more modern signal system that is being installed on the Queens line. That new system will let the MTA run more trains on the jam-packed line and relieve overcrowding.

Called the R188 cars, they all are expected to be delivered by the end of July. Some have already been added to the No. 7 line. The 126 new cars, and the conversion of 380 older cars so that they can use the new signal system, cost the MTA almost $646 million, according to documents.

Timeline

- The MTA started designing the new R211 subway cars for the lettered lines in December 2012. The design will be finished this year, and the MTA hopes to award a contract by early 2017.

- The new R188 cars are being added to the No. 7 line now, and should be finished this summer. The line will get 126 new train cars for the more modern signal system that is being added on the No. 7, as well as 380 converted cars that can use that system.

- The new R179 cars, which are facing manufacturing delays, are expected to go on the C, J, M, Z and A lines but it is not set in stone, according to the MTA. They are slated to be delivered in July 2018 and a test train on June 2016.











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